The Impact of Social Media News Overload on Users’ Avoidance and Discontinuance

Document Type : Original Article

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Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Mass Communication- Cairo University- Radio and Television Department

Abstract

Social media have increasingly become an integral part of individuals’ lives globally. They play significant roles in increasing social bonds, accentuating social inclusion and broadening one’s social capital. Individuals have too become over reliant on social media platforms for information acquisition, dissemination and planned decision making. However, this has resulted in a sense of overload among individuals who develop a sense that the amounts of the encountered information exceeded the threshold of their processing capacities. This eventually leads to a behavior of avoidance and eventually social media discontinuance that was evident in the decline in the number of social media users globally. Applying to the current economic crisis in Egypt, this research examined the correlation between economic news overload and social media avoidance and discontinuance.  Findings of the study provided support for the proposed assumption where overload was a significant predictor of discontinuance behavior among Egyptian users. Results were interpreted in the light of Stimulus Organism Response paradigm.
 

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